by: Mark Lester
I can’t begin to tell you how excited all of us at SUPERTRAX International are to be selected as the OFSC’s official publication to communicate to its trail permit buyers.
For those of you who don’t recognize my brother Kent and myself, we’ve had a long history of delivering OFSC messaging – 13 years to be exact, until six years ago.
The past six years have been busy for SUPERTRAX International. We’re now the largest circulated snowmobile enthusiast title in both the United States and Canada.
Times have changed in the sport of snowmobiling and so has the OFSC. Having been less involved in OFSC communication the past six years and now thrown back into the deep end of the pool, charged with official publication status, we’ve been working hard to become qualified to comment on how dramatic and all-encompassing the changes to both organized snowmobiling and the OFSC really are.
The SUPERTRAX crew has gone through an intense education process covering exactly how the OFSC functions, who drives its policies and how it works to support OFSC member clubs. I can tell you without any hesitation this has been an amazing journey.
It’s been impressive to learn how efficient and organized the OFSC is. Uh oh! That sounded like a suck-up endorsement from the new publisher, right? Don’t take my word for it. In the international powersports community, not to mention the trail sanctioning fraternity here in Ontario, the OFSC is, hands down, the most respected organization, period.
The OFSC has consistently delivered the goods. Need proof? Over the past 15 years it has been entrusted with over $40 million in provincial and federal government funding. A $3 million provincial contribution this past spring is covered in this first issue of Go Snowmobiling Magazine.
Okay, money is important and government attention is paramount but, how do you earn trust of this magnitude? You generate consistent economic benefit for Ontario’s economy, that’s how. The OFSC’s more than 230 member snowmobile clubs are responsible for an interconnected trail network generating more than a billion dollars in economic impact every winter.
Most of this impact positively affects communities; communities that have little to offer in the winter months as a result of their geography and location. OFSC trail based snowmobiling is the very life-blood of Ontario destinations like these.
What else is the OFSC good at? It’s good at looking after land owners. This is accomplished by the incredible efforts of the OFSC’s member clubs and in a very substantial way through a comprehensive liability insurance program which protects land owners who allow trails on their property. This initiative alone is foundational to the continued expansion and growth of snowmobiling in Ontario.
Here’s more: The OFSC promotes snowmobiling for the benefit of its member clubs. However, let’s be honest, promoting snowmobiling benefits everyone.
Snowmobile manufacturers, tourism operators and everyone involved in the communities who welcome snowmobilers all benefit from the OFSC’s continuous promotion of snowmobiling through programs like the recent Toronto Star insert on OFSC snowmobiling, the Give It a Try Tour and the Take A Friend Snowmobiling initiative you’ll read about in this issue.
I could go on but here’s where the rubber hits snow: the OFSC is important to you and to snowmobiling. You’ll find out much more over the course of this coming season right here in Go Snowmobiling Magazine.
2008 OFSC trail permit buyers will receive Go Snowmobiling magazine four times this season along with a copy of SUPERTRAX International if you indicated you wanted the magazine when you purchased your trail permit.
When you buy your ’08-’09 permit this fall make sure you indicate you want Go Snowmobiling Magazine and SUPERTRAX as a member benefit when filling out your trail permit application.
Our goal here at Go Snowmobiling Magazine is to keep you informed on important issues relating to snowmobiling across Ontario with hard hitting editorials, info-packed features and lots of coverage of the places you love riding in and the sleds you love to ride.
SUPERTRAX will keep on bringing you the action packed, hands-on coverage of every aspect of snowmobiling in a way no other enthusiast publication can match.
We’re working hard here to make sure you’ll enjoy every issue of Go Snowmobiling Magazine when it arrives in your mailbox. Why are we confident you will? Because we’re hardcore snowmobile enthusiasts. In fact, the editorial staff at Go Snowmobiling Magazine and SUPERTRAX International have more years of snowmobile publishing experience than all our competitors combined.
This is our passion. We look forward to sharing it with you.
